ChatGPT wants you to know that as you may have heard on social media, Sora, OpenAI’s platform for creating short-form videos, has suddenly shut down. do not have” This means that the public is becoming increasingly disillusioned with AI-generated video content.
Or “AI slop” as it’s known in online parlance.
Yes, ChatGPT does. Sora soared to No. 1 on the App Store in October before experiencing a “precipitous early collapse in momentum.” And the drop was “severe” than other similar apps. but There are many other factors as well. These include, but are not limited to: intense competition, copyright disputes, legal “concerns” about deepfakes and misinformation, shifting priorities, failed business deals (notably Disney’s simultaneous decision to cancel a $1 billion investment), and standard cost vs. profitability debates. Sora cost much more in terms of money and computing resources than it introduced.
Add to that the threat of potential litigation (perhaps exacerbated by strikes against unregulated media production, in which Meta was found liable for millions of dollars in damages in New Mexico and Los Angeles on the same day) and a possible IPO, and it feels like the perfect storm of problems has led OpenAI to cut off underperforming parts of its business.
ChatGPT argued that “Sora failed because no one wanted it. It actually went viral and got a lot of attention, and AI video is still a crowded and growing field. That’s not the case,” the bot added rather sarcastically, “What does ‘public rejection’ look like?”
ChatGPT, please calm down. If the gasket breaks, OpenAI is in real trouble.
I know you have skin in the game (and it also comes with the disclaimer that you’re often wrong), but by your own admission (“Deepfake Concerns”), Sola is plagued by the same unregulated criticism that other consumer-generated media faces, including accusations of racism, sexism, incitement to violence, and fiction masquerading as fact.
And unlike the early days of Facebook, MySpace, and even Twitter, the immediate reaction to advances in AI technology has been mixed. In Hollywood in particular, two guilds recently went on strike to protect their members who were perceived as a threat.
Social media celebrating Sora’s death (which, let’s be honest, most Americans probably didn’t even know existed in the first place) certainly feels like a rejection reaction, especially when the app’s shutdown is cited by clearly overzealous and narrow-minded people as “proof” that the “AI bubble” is bursting. (That said, Sora’s “Greatest Hits” is also getting a lot of attention, and the video of the cat playing the violin on the porch is super cute.)
Progress will always have its detractors – some saw the advent of radio, film, and television as signs of a cultural apocalypse – but AI poses a far greater danger than the briefly panicked populace that Orson Welles’s radio version of The War of the Worlds made so convincing that Martians had landed.
With the increased reliance on video rather than journalistic reporting of events, the ability to alter or create scenes that did not occur has become dangerous for obvious reasons. And these “copyright issues” that ChatGPT casually lists include images of real people being manipulated into acts they never actually committed, or using unauthorized music or other works, which are then shared on high-profile platforms, including the President of the United States.
Fortunately, so far, many of these videos, whether they exploit the living, resurrect the dead, or are simply fabricated, are unconvincing. (This is where the term “AI slop” comes from.) When Elaine van der Velden, CEO of AI talent studio Xicoia, announced that various agents were interested in representing AI “performer” Tilly Norwood, Hollywood went into meltdown. Norwood then released her first music video for “Her” and the threat level returned to green.
AI enters a culture that is already being torn apart by the double-edged sword of digital technology. Although undoubtedly popular, social media is now increasingly viewed with disdain, as evidenced by the lawsuit against Meta. AI is just one of the things we all have to worry about right now, in the classroom, in the workplace, and in the zeitgeist. Like all types of automation, AI is displacing jobs, especially from entry-level workers. After more than two centuries of science fiction, everyone knows the risks. It’s all fun and games until a computer named Joshua decides to wage thermonuclear war.
Sure, it was fun to ask ChatGPT questions for this column, but the disclaimer is true: There are a lot of mistakes. Complaints about AI making marketing and advertising more intrusive are real. A survey conducted by video company Animoto for its 2026 State of Video report found that 83% of consumers said they could recognize AI components in video ads, and 36% said the use of AI would reduce their “recognition” of a brand.
There may come a time when AI-generated videos look just as authentic as “real” videos, but a lot will have to change for that to happen. (Including the geographic landscape – given the amount of energy AI will require, tech companies are already racing to build energy farms, and some actual farmers are reluctant to give up their land.)
The end of Sora definitely won’t be the first domino or the collapse of the AI bubble. But AI is not magic, and the people who create and sell it are clearly not infallible. As history has shown, industry titans often share an unfortunate tendency to capitalize on enthusiasm, make big bucks, and then leave it to others to clean up when the market collapses.
Even with the prospect of tighter content regulations, there is a good chance that another company will come up with a more successful AI video app or feature. This technology will be improved and used in more profitable ways, although it may continue to be controversial.
But no matter how ChatGPT tried to frame it, Sora had surprisingly high levels of rejection. It cost more than it cost to manufacture it simply because not enough people were using it.
Even when it was free. And that’s saying something.
